World News Tonight anchor David Muir, who debuted in his role on Monday night, swears that under his tenure the program will focus on serious topics. ABC News in general has been drifting in a tabloid, content-free direction. But in an interview with Politico, the anchor insisted, “I think that at 6:30, we just have an even greater responsibility to laser in on what’s truly important about the headlines that have been hitting you all day long.”

Asked to differentiate himself from predecessor Diane Sawyer, Muir responded, “It’s the same music, same graphics, and, quite frankly, the same guy who has been filling in for quite some time.” The host did add that he hoped to continue reporting live from various hot spots. Nightline, an ABC News show has conducted a multi-month boycott of ObamaCare news.

World News Tonight anchor David Muir, who debuted in his role on Monday night, swears that under his tenure the program will focus on serious topics. ABC News in general has been drifting in a tabloid, content-free direction. But in an interview with Politico, the anchor insisted, “I think that at 6:30, we just have an even greater responsibility to laser in on what’s truly important about the headlines that have been hitting you all day long.”

Asked to differentiate himself from predecessor Diane Sawyer, Muir responded, “It’s the same music, same graphics, and, quite frankly, the same guy who has been filling in for quite some time.” The host did add that he hoped to continue reporting live from various hot spots. Nightline, an ABC News show has conducted a multi-month boycott of ObamaCare news.

Starting on Tuesday, ABC journalist David Muir will replace Diane Sawyer as the anchor of World News. Given the liberal legacy of predecessors like Peter Jennings and Sawyer, it’s not surprising that Muir has a history of fawning over “cool kid” Barack Obama and attacking conservatives. The Media Research Center has compiled a Profile in Bias of his worst examples of liberal bias. [See below for videos.]

On April 9, 2009, Muir, then the World News weekend anchor, thrilled over pictures of pictures of Obama at the G-20 summit. The journalist enthused to George Stephanopoulos: “…Heads of state are seemingly trying to get close to the head of the class, or the cool kid in the class, if you will, President Obama.” [MP3 audio here.] On January 20, 2009, inauguration day, Muir insisted that even traffic jams had been hushed: “So many of the streets are closed, those that are open are clogged. But there were no car horns, no shouting.”

While competing newscasts on ABC and CBS led tonight with the president’s stunning admission at a press briefing that he hasn’t formulated a strategy to deal with ISIS yet, NBC placed the story in the third slot in the lineup, after a lead-off report regarding the NFL’s “tough new policy” on domestic violence and a story by New York-based correspondent Katy Tur about comedian Joan Rivers’s hospitalization.

On top of that, Nightly News substitute anchor Lester Holt completely left out both ISIS and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia from his opening-credit tease. By contrast, both ABC’s Amy Robach and CBS’s Maurice DuBois led off their opening-credit teases by citing the most quotable nugget from today’s presidential presser [LISTEN to MP3 audio here; WATCH video montage below page break]:

World News anchor and long-time ABC journalist Diane Sawyer signed off for the last time on Wednesday night. The host’s final show included a music montage as she offered a behind the scenes look at how the program is created. Sawyer praised World News as “the flag ship broadcast of ABC where Peter Jennings created a signature of such curiosity and courage.”

Talking to viewers, Sawyer said of the people behind her show: “Determination and the certainty of purpose: They’re doing it for you.” [See video below. MP3 audio here.] Sawyer joined ABC in 1989 and if there’s been one constant during her long career, it’s been fawning, credulous reporting on dictators. On February 19, 2008, she cooed over Fidel Castro: “From a tiny island, a larger than life personality….Castro knew life is a stage and played the part of the dashing revolutionary, coming to New York, getting rock star treatment.”

As news broke on Tuesday of Burger King buying Tim Hortons and moving its corporate headquarters to Canada, the broadcast networks quickly adopted the liberal talking point that the fast food chain was being unpatriotic by avoiding high U.S. tax rates. On Tuesday’s ABC World News, anchor Diane Sawyer proclaimed: “Burger King, home of the Whopper, accused of doing something a lot of Americans question, defecting. Heading north of the border to Canada and saving a lot of tax money.” [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

On Wednesday’s Today, correspondent John Yang touted “a whopper of a controversy” over the move and announced: “…just the idea of moving the headquarters to Canada has some once-loyal Burger King subjects ready to revolt….On Burger King’s Facebook page, nearly 5,000 posts, most critical. ‘You abandon the America that made you and we will abandon you.'”

Wednesday’s morning shows on ABC and NBC ignored the latest details of the growing scandal engulfing the Veterans Affairs department. Only CBS bothered to report on the story, allowing a scant 20 seconds. This Morning co-anchor Gayle King revealed, “USA Today says the VA scandal now includes obstruction of justice allegations. Ninety three health care facilities are being investigated by the VA’s inspector general.” [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

She added that the “Justice Department and FBI are joining this probe.” USA Today reporter Gregg Zoroya wrote, “The report by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General said 93 VA health care sites across the country are being investigated in connection with falsifying scheduling records to hide delays in veterans’ health care and ‘attempting to obstruct OIG (Office of Inspector General) and other investigative efforts.'”

Wednesday’s morning shows on ABC and NBC ignored the latest details of the growing scandal engulfing the Veterans Affairs department. Only CBS bothered to report on the story, allowing a scant 20 seconds. This Morning co-anchor Gayle King revealed, “USA Today says the VA scandal now includes obstruction of justice allegations. Ninety three health care facilities are being investigated by the VA’s inspector general.” [See video below. MP3 audio here.]

She added that the “Justice Department and FBI are joining this probe.” USA Today reporter Gregg Zoroya wrote, “The report by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General said 93 VA health care sites across the country are being investigated in connection with falsifying scheduling records to hide delays in veterans’ health care and ‘attempting to obstruct OIG (Office of Inspector General) and other investigative efforts.'”

NBC and CBS have ignored a questionable joke about Asian Americans by Harry Reid on Thursday. Only Friday’s World News highlighted the “foot-in-mouth” moment from the Senate Majority Leader. Speaking to the Asian Chamer of Commerce, Reid quipped, “One problem I’ve had today is keeping my Wongs straight.” [See video below. MP3 audio here.] Looking at the comment critically, anchor Diane Sawyer wondered, ” So, what did he say, and what’s the line between a joke and a racist remark?”

Reporter Jeff Zeleny chided, “‘Racist and disgusting’ is what some are calling harry Reid’s attempt at humor.” Instead of covering the story, Nightly News and the Evening News on Friday made time for frivolous topics. NBC covered a blue lobster being caught in Maine. CBS highlighted a pink cookie being dropped from the menu at certain high schools.

Here’s more evidence that the Big Three broadcast newscasts are failing to act as Obama administration watchdogs. Today the federal Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan arm of the legislative branch, released a report finding that the Obama/Hagel Department of Defense broke federal law with the manner in which it negotiated the Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap earlier this year. Such a revelation should be worthy of coverage on a broadcast network evening newscasts, but all three of those networks — ABC, CBS, and NBC — ignored the report on their August 21 editions.

But there was plenty of time for fluffy pet stories on the same broadcasts. ABC’s World News wrapped up tonight with a story about a musician who composes easy-listening music for dogs. Meanwhile, CBS Evening News substitute anchor Bob Schieffer informed viewers of some pet-friendly college campuses, and Brian Williams of NBC Nightly News both ran a video clip of dogs splashing about in a swimming pool and aired a photo of a cloud photographed over New York City which looks a lot like a dog [See screenshot below page break].

NBC Nightly News was the sole Big Three evening newscast on Friday to cover ISIS’s ongoing rampage against non-Muslims in northern Iraq. Chris Jansing filed a full report on the heartbreak for a Yazidi community in Nebraska, who have lost family to the Islamist group’s campaign of terror. By contrast, ABC’s World News and CBS Evening News both found time to air news briefs on the historical gaffe in a photo promoting the new season of PBS’s Downton Abbey.

Jansing interviewed several Yazidis for the segment, who detailed the atrocities that ISIS is inflicting on their minority community: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]

NBC Nightly News was the sole Big Three evening newscast on Friday to cover ISIS’s ongoing rampage against non-Muslims in northern Iraq. Chris Jansing filed a full report on the heartbreak for a Yazidi community in Nebraska, who have lost family to the Islamist group’s campaign of terror. By contrast, ABC’s World News and CBS Evening News both found time to air news briefs on the historical gaffe in a photo promoting the new season of PBS’s Downton Abbey.

Jansing interviewed several Yazidis for the segment, who detailed the atrocities that ISIS is inflicting on their minority community: [MP3 audio available here; video below the jump]